The Real World
by Built on the Horizon
Summary: They assure me that there is no such thing as Torchwood, no space ships at Christmas and no ghosts and robot men. I’m sorry, Miss Tyler, the last three years of your life were just a fantasy."
1. Chapter 1

The Real World

Rose woke up in a sweat, as she usually did. Slowly, her awareness came around. The sheets were scratchy, her pyjamas…

Rose sat bold upright. She wasn't wearing her pyjamas; she was wearing a pair of hospital scrubs.

Confused, she looked around her.

The room was scarce, simply the bed she was in and a plastic chair. Behind her, sunlight streamed through the blinds of the window. Rose stood and widened the gap between two of the slats of the blinds to look outside. She could see nothing, only a red brick wall.

Rose forced herself to be calm. Wherever she was, it wasn't Torchwood.

She turned to the door. Through the window, she could see a long corridor; she banged against the door, desperate.

She stopped, glancing at her wrist. She is wearing a plastic medical bracelet; she almost read it when the door opened.

A man in a suit and a female nurse entered. Rose backed away, wary of the strangers.

'Good morning, Miss Tyler. I'm Doctor Adam Fletcher.

'Where am I?' Rose demanded.

'You're in the Acute Care Unit of St Joseph's Health Care.' Fletcher replied.

Rose blinked rapidly as she recognized the name.

'St Joseph's, that's, um, that's a psychiatric hospital.' She remembered.

Fletcher nodded. 'Outside London, yes.'

'I was just in London.' Rose said. 'I just had a meeting with the President.'

'Of America?' Fletcher asked.

Rose shook her head. 'No, Great Brittan.'

Fletcher breathed slowly, composing his thoughts. 'Great Brittan never had a President.'

Rose's heart skipped a beat. 'I'm back?' She said, elated. 'When did I get back?'

'To where?' Fletcher asked.

'To Earth.'

Fletcher smiled sympathetically.

'Miss Tyler, you never left.'

* * *

_**I know, its short, but hang in there! This is heavily based on the Stargate: Atlantis episode, The Real World, but dont go look it up, just enjoy my spin on it! It's also inspired by I've Lost My Profile Page's oneshot in her What If story, kinda. I just had a plot bunny and ran with it. Please review!**_


	2. Chapter 2

Rose was sitting in Fletcher's office wearing a bathrobe over her scrubs. She shifted nervously in her seat as Fletcher spoke.

'You were in court over a health and safety accusation when you collapsed mid-sentence. You've been under a tremendous amount of stress recently. The court case was the final straw that triggered what is known as a brief reactive psychosis.' He said, sounding ever more the educated doctor.

Rose looked down briefly, bewildered.

'I know, you're confused.' Fletcher said. 'This type of disorder can be very frightening, but the good news is your condition is most likely transitory. These episodes usually pass within a number of days.'

Rose shook her head. 'I'm sorry, but how did I get here?'

'You were transported by ambulance to a hospital in London, then…' Fletcher began.

'No. I mean from Torchwood.' Rose interrupted.

Fletcher's brow furrowed. 'I'm sorry, what are you talking about?'

'Torchwood.' Rose repeated.

'What's that?' Fletcher asked.

Rose's eyes narrowed. 'What's your security clearance?'

Fletcher smiled. 'Miss Tyler, I'm afraid-'

'What was the court case about?' Rose demanded.

'An accident at Henrik's store.' Fletcher said.

Rose stood immediately, backing away. 'No, no, no. I stopped working for them three years ago. Before I-'

'No, two days.' Fletcher corrected. 'Since then you've been here, in a severely depressed and near-catatonic state.

'No! No.' Rose shook her head, backing away again. 'I was in Research and Development, I was just about to activate something that would take me back again and…'

Rose trailed off; Fletcher frowned again and looked uncomfortable.

'This… this can't be real.' She said.

'Miss Tyler, I assure you, it _is_ real.' Fletcher said, without any hint of detectable lies.

Rose looked around. 'I need to speak to Mickey.'

* * *

Rose could hear the footsteps coming from a mile away. There was something in them that was distinctly Mickey Smith, but she could not help but to continue staring at the floor.

'Rose?' Mickey asked, and she was forced to look up. He was standing above her, all the caring and worry evident in his eyes, along with something else, something she had not seen in a very long time.

She stood and he immediately wrapped her in his arms, crashing his lips against hers.

Rose froze for a moment before shoving him away. They had not had a relationship like that since… well, since the Doctor.

'Thank goodness you're alright!' he exclaimed, pulling her closer again.

'Will you stop that?' Rose yelled, knocking him backwards with a learned self-defence move.

'Sorry.' He mumbled. 'I guess you're not ready for that yet.'

Rose looked at him in confusion. 'Mickey, we haven't had "that" for three years.'

Mickey's mouth opened and closed again. 'Rose…'

'This is all very confusing for me.' Rose glanced around the room at the other hospital patients. 'The last thing I remember, I was in Torchwood, everything was fine, you had just come back from the Spain crash site and Dad was talking to you and the next thing I know, I wake up here.'

Mickey looked hurt, anguished. 'I was in Spain?' his face was crumpled up and he looked like his heart was about to crack.

'Barcelona, actually.' Rose added softly.

'And everything was fine, with your-' his voice cracked. 'With your dad.'

Rose nodded. 'The problem is my memory. I have no memory of coming here, or this court case they keep talking about…' she trailed off, noticing the look of confusion on Mickey's face. 'What?'

Mickey shook his head. 'Oh, um… Rose, I don't think I'm qualified to be talking to you about this.'

'Oh please.' Rose shook her head. 'You practically ran Torchwood when I was with the Doctor. You are probably the most qualified person on this planet.

Mickey looked unsure. 'Yeah, okay.'

Rose grew frustrated. 'Why are you doing this?'

'What? I'm not _trying_ to do anything!' Mickey exclaimed.

Rose held her head high. 'If you don't know what I'm talking about, then you're not really Mickey Smith.'

Mickey looked uncomfortable again. 'Oh, I'm Mickey Smith alright. That's the _one_ thing in this conversation I'm sure about. We've been dating for years and you just hit a rough patch after the accident. I know nothing about some Torchwood.'

Rose sat back, confused.

'I'm sorry.' Mickey hung his head. 'I know I'm not the smartest, but we need you back together again, I'm sorry, I've been a bit of an idiot but… I need you, alright?'

Rose snapped up to look at him. 'You can go.' She dismissed.

'Rose.' Mickey started.

'Please.' Rose looked up at him. 'Please just go.'

Rose watched as Mickey turned and walked away, shoulders hunched and tense. She looked around the room. An orderly was standing up the door, watching her. She wandered down towards the hall.

Someone tall and lanky bumped into her from behind. She spun around angrily, ready to scream.

_He_ was there, grinning goofily with the same messy brown hair and confident stance, a white lab coat over his usual suit.

'Doctor?' she breathed the only word she could think.

He nodded simply. 'Do you need any help, miss?'

'Doctor!' she said harshly. 'What's going on?'

He smiled calmingly. 'You're Rose Tyler, I've been supervising you. I'm Doctor-'

'I know who you are, Doctor.' Rose snapped, emotion's overwhelming.

The Doctor smiled, evidently pleased. 'Really? Good, good. Your memory must be returning.'

'What the hell is going on here?' She yelled. 'You're not the Doctor!'

'Please, just calm down, miss.' The Doctor urged.

'What have you done with him?' she screamed. Two orderlies grabbed her arms to pull her back. She struggled, trying to push them aside

'Just calm down.' He said slowly.

'Mickey!' she yelled. 'Doctor! Someone, help!'

Pushing up her sleeve, the Doctor inserted a needle into her arm.

'Doctor…' she sighed painfully, her vision swimming.

'Get her back to her room.' The Doctor ordered the nurse.

Rose lost feeling in her limbs, staring disbelievingly at the familiar face above her. Her world faded to black.

* * *

**_Wow. It's certainly been a while. I'm putting my money on close to 6 months without posting anything under Doctor Who. I would appologise but I doubt anyone is still out there bothered enough to read this. Please review, I need to know if I should bother continuing._**


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